The week: Stories and photos from March 29-April 4

THE REGION

JULIAN – The town's only gas station will not close after all, it was reported Tuesday. Norm's Service station was purchased by the owner of two other gas stations in Santa Ysabel and Ramona who will upgrade the Julian station's fueling system. The original owners said the upgrades were too expensive to allow it to remain a viable business. Residents had feared that if the station closed, people could be trapped during a fire evacuation without gasoline.

ALPINE – The school board voted Wednesday night to approve an agreement by teachers in the Alpine Union School District to become the first in the region to take a pay cut to help preserve jobs. The teachers recently voted to accept two furlough days during each of the next two school years. In return, they will be allowed to reduce their workday by five minutes. The 2,000-student district faces a $1 million deficit next year. Districtwide furloughs – a 2 percent pay cut – will save about $500,000 annually.

SOUTH COUNTY – A federal judge has ruled that Castle Park High School has allowed “significant gender-based disparity” in sports at the expense of female athletes. In a summary judgment last week, the judge ruled that Castle Park is not in compliance with Title IX, the 37-year-old federal law that forbids sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal funds. The ruling stems from a suit filed by Castle Park softball players. They said girls had worse sports facilities than boys. Measures to remedy the situation will be determined later.

POWAY – Mayor Mickey Cafagna was listed in critical but stable condition at a hospital last week, where he was suffering from septic shock and other complications related to his ongoing battle with cancer. Cafagna, 65, has been battling kidney cancer for four years, which metastasized to his lungs.

EAST COUNTY – The Helix Water District is proposing rate increases that mean a typical household would pay about $24 more on its bimonthly bill, but would offer lesser increases to customers who conserve water. The district is seeking rate increases averaging 22 percent in response to an announcement that the Metropolitan Water District is planning up to a 30 percent increase in the price of water it supplies to San Diego County through the county Water Authority, it was reported last week.

VISTA – Fifteen municipal employees received layoff notices last week, it was reported Thursday. Coupled with layoffs announced in January, Vista will cut 29 workers to help close a $6.4 million shortfall in the 2009-10 budget that was identified at a City Council workshop in mid-March. A city official said the personnel cuts and other cost-cutting moves have trimmed the estimated deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to a little more than $1 million.

Proposed S.D. fee hikes could raise $7 million

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has proposed fee increases – from library fines to ballfield rentals to adult entertainer permits – to raise nearly $7million for the city budget.

The council's five-member Budget Committee considered the proposed fee increases Wednesday. Committee members withdrew proposals to increase entertainment permits for bars and restaurants after business groups complained.

Mary Lewis, the city's chief financial officer, said the mayor's goal is to price the fees and permits so that they cover the city's costs to administer programs and provide oversight.

On Monday, the council rejected a proposal to allow parking meters to operate at night and on Sundays.

UCSD e-mail mistakenly sent to denied applicants

Nearly 30,000 people received an e-mail last week congratulating them on admission to the University of California San Diego – only to learn that campus officials had sent the e-mails in error.

The campus e-mail, sent about 5 p.m. Monday, invited students to an orientation and began with these warm words: “We're thrilled that you've been admitted to UC San Diego ... ”

Admissions Director Mae Brown said the invitations were supposed to be sent to about 18,000 students admitted by the university. Instead, they went to all 47,000 who applied, including those who had been rejected.

Brown said officials quickly realized their mistake. Within two hours, the university sent out another blanket e-mail, this one an apology.

Woman allegedly sold donated toys for profit

The president of a foster parents group was accused of selling thousands of donated toys and pocketing the money.

Authorities seized more than 11,000 toys from Virginia Kelly's home in San Ysidro, a storage unit and her daughter's home in Chula Vista.

Kelly, 73, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of grand theft and embezzlement.

Investigators said Kelly collected about 1,700 toys per year for the past five years from the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation. They said she gave about half to foster parents for their children and kept the rest to sell for profit at garage sales.

Her lawyer, Tom Matthews, said Kelly received so many toys over time that they just piled up. “My client denies ever selling a single toy,” Matthews said.

Big Apple loss ends best Aztecs season since '41

San Diego State University's first visit to the semifinals of the National Invitational Tournament in New York ended Tuesday in a 76-62 defeat to Baylor University, eliminating the Aztecs' chance for a national basketball title.

But the game, at New York's Madison Square Garden, wrapped up the Aztecs' best men's basketball season since 1941.

They set a school record with 26 wins. Their three postseason wins represented one more than in the previous 38 years combined.

The Aztecs were making their first appearance in a national tournament semifinal since capturing the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (now National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) title in 1941.

Ailing sheriff decides to leave office July 2

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender has decided to resign July 2, it was reported last week. The sheriff, 73, who has been in ill health over recent months, began telling friends and county officials of his decision Wednesday. It comes in the middle of his fourth term, and throws the race to succeed him into disarray just as it takes shape.

Accolades for the sheriff poured in from all quarters.

“Everybody in the county talks about this great relationship we have between the federal, the state and the local police,” San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said. “It's because of Bill Kolender. He is the person who puts that together. I see him as a mentor.”

Better border security planned by Napolitano

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano outlined plans Wednesday in San Diego to step up inspections of vehicles crossing into Mexico under a $400 million effort to improve security on the border.

Napolitano visited the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, where she met with U.S. inspectors and agents and examined seized contraband. Otay Mesa was Napolitano's first stop on a three-day trip to the border and Mexico.

The border upgrades, funded through President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package, will include $269 million for ports of entry. Of that, $20 million will be for improvements at the 15-year-old Otay Mesa crossing “to make sure that this is a state-of-the-art port designed for the needs of this area for years to come,” Napolitano said.